Intrusions
by Neuropsych
Summary: (COMPLETE) An old acquaintance returns, looking to solve a mystery that eludes her, and this time she has a different target (Rated for language)
1. 01

**Intrusions**

_Author's Note: So! A new Campers story! We'll have to see where it takes us, eh?_

_Disclaimer: I don't own SG-1 or anything like that, but I do own all original characters and the story line!_

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"Adams, turn that thing off and go to sleep."

"I'm almost done."

There was a rustle in the bed above his, and Shawn looked up and over just in time to see Ian Brooks' head peeking over the edge of the top bunk. In the dark room, he could only just make out the outline of the handsome face, but it was enough. Shawn moved the device in his hand just enough that his friend couldn't see what was on the screen.

"It's _late_."

"I'm almost done."

"What are you working on?"

"Just some extra research."

That wasn't even a lie. The device in Shawn's hand looked like nothing more extraordinary than a palm pilot – but it was far more than that. Given to him by the Asgard so he could continue his lessons with them – even with the presence of his two room mates at the Air Force Academy – Shawn was able to use the device to interact with the 'computers' on the Asgard ship that was orbiting Earth at that very minute and tended to orbit Earth every school night. He was even able to keep in touch with Andrew Stephens, and occasionally the two of them had combined lessons, even though they weren't able to do much more than chat in text.

"Well, turn it off, you're thinking too loud, and it's keeping me awake."

"Maybe you'd be doing better in your classes if _you_ did a little more thinking..." Came a lazy drawl from the single bed on the other side of the small room.

In the darkness of the room neither of the two that had been conversing could see River Hayden, but both of them knew he was probably sitting up in bed, propped up with one elbow and looking over at the light coming from Shawn's device. It wasn't much of a light, but it was a beacon in the otherwise dark room.

"Screw you, Hayden," Ian said – softer than he normally would have, since it was after lights out and they were all supposed to be asleep. "There's nothing wrong with my grades."

That was true enough. The three of them were at the top of their class – even though they'd only been in classes for a couple of months.

There was a snort of amusement from the other side of the room, and Shawn smiled. A couple months ago, it would have been the beginning of a spectacular argument, but now the two young men – who were both much older than he was – were more used to each other, and Shawn knew it would take more than an empty insult to set them off.

"What are you working on, Shawn?" River asked.

"Nothing much.... Just some advanced Sciences. I was thinking I'd take Genetics next year – if they let me – so I figured I'd get a head start on it."

"Yeah? What do you want to take Genetics for?"

"He's going to _clone_ you, Hayden," Brooks said from above Shawn. "Then we'll teach the clone to talk like an idiot, walk like an idiot and surf, and we can finally send you and those glow in the dark pajamas back to California to join all the other freaks and let it take your place."

This time the snort of amusement was Shawn's. River's pajamas were a constant source of amusement to his two roommates, and Brooks in particular loved to give the Californian a bad time about them. There was an answering snicker from above, and a moment later a pair of rolled up socks came sailing in with deadly accuracy and hit Shawn in the side of the head.

"Fuck you, Brooks."

Shawn snickered even louder. River's voice had taken on the characteristic twang that Ian's voice always carried when he was delivering his favorite comeback. The Californian had his roommate's voice dead on, and if he hadn't known Ian was sprawled above him, Shawn would have sworn it was Brooks over in River's bed.

Ian's guffaw was louder than Shawn's snicker, and the two of them covered their mouths, realizing their laughter could get out of control really easy if they let it. Then they'd get a visit from the floor guard – which was really an older cadet who was responsible for making sure the First year cadets didn't sneak out of their beds at night, or stay awake all night working on things they should have been taking care of before lights out.

"Turn it off, Shawn. I'm tired."

Shawn nodded, even though neither of the others could see it, and he logged off his lessons for the night. Time enough to finish the next morning. He put the device on the shelf between his bunk and the bunk above his, and then stretched out and closed his eyes.

It'd been a long week, and he was tired. Despite the Scientific mumbo jumbo running through his brain, he was asleep almost immediately.

_"There you are!"_

_He opened his eyes and looked around in confusion, and found that he wasn't alone. Someone else was with him. A female someone. But he didn't see anyone; he could only feel her presence._

_"Are you talking to me?"_

_He felt exultation, and an intense glee, and wondered idly what had made the woman so happy._

_"Oh, yes, I most certainly am! You have no idea how long it took me to find you..."_

_"I've been here..."_

_"It took me a long time."_

_"Who are you?"_

_"I know your father."_

_"James?" Now he was confused._

_"Not_ that _one." She answered, definite satisfaction in her voice, now._

_"_Jack_?"_

_"Yes."_

_"You're friends with him?"_

_Now there was a hesitation._

_"I didn't say that..."_

_"Oh..."_

_"Tell me about your father, boy... What is he?"_

_Now it was his turn to hesitate. If she knew Jack, she knew what he was. What he did. Right?_

_"I'm not going to," he decided. "Go ask him yourself if you want to know."_

_"I can't." There was consternation in her 'voice' and Shawn thought he heard a lot of frustration as well. "I can't get close to him, now. Or ever, I think. It took me a long time to find you, and I could only do that by tracking his own aura to yours..."_

_"I'm not telling you anything."_

_"You have to."_

_"I don't have to do shit."_

_He'd picked that particular phrase up from Ian, who used it frequently when River told him to do something._

_There was a brief flash of anger, and Shawn met it defiantly – he'd never been one to run, after all – and then the anger was gone, and so was the presence._

With a start, Shawn Adams sat up in his bed, looking around. His brown eyes were everywhere, looking for... something... and his ears were alert to every noise going on around him. There wasn't anything out of the ordinary, though. Gentle snores from his roommates, and the soft ticking of the watch on Ian's wrist. Nothing more.

Rubbing his forehead, he lay back down, trying to remember what it was that had woken him... but was asleep again in only minutes.


	2. 02

_Author's Note: Short chapter, guys, sorry! More coming, I promise_

"So when you calculate line six using 5 as a replacement for _A_ and multiplying it by X what do you get as a result? _Adams_?"

Shawn looked up t the sound of his name, flushing slightly at having been caught not paying attention. He looked at the equation on the dry erase board.

"12, Sir."

"Correct."

The class went on, and Shawn tried to pay attention, but his mind wasn't on Calculus just then. He was distracted by the memories of _something_... he just couldn't quite figure out what it was he couldn't remember. Which was frustrating.

"What's your problem, Adams?"

He looked over, realizing that everyone was standing, and River and Ian were both standing beside him. The class had ended and he hadn't even noticed.

"What?"

River rolled his eyes.

"Exactly what he means, Shawn," the blonde cadet said, gesturing to Ian. "You're spaced out, dude. Why?"

"I'm not-"

"Let me guess," Ian said, a twinkle in his dark eyes. "You're thinking about a girl?"

Shawn blushed, and gathered his books.

"No, not a girl..." He told them. Or was it?

"You stayed up too late playing with that doohickey, didn't you?" River asked. Of course, Shawn hadn't been yawning, but that didn't matter.

"Nah... I had a weird dream, I think..."

"Nightmare?" Ian asked, frowning, his eyes losing the amusement that had been there only a moment before. After that crazy attack by the whatever they had been only a couple of months before, Ian could believe that. He'd had a few bad dreams himself – although he'd never admit it to anyone.

"No," Shawn said, truthfully. Whatever it was, it hadn't been terribly frightening. He was sure he'd have remembered that.

"Probably shouldn't have eaten all that junk food last night," Eric Wells said, coming up behind the three of them.

Shawn grinned at the cadet – who was in his platoon – and shook his head again.

"I didn't eat all that many of those cookies."

"No, _you_ couldn't have," River said, "Ian ate about a dozen. I'm surprised he even fits into his uniform."

"What can I say?" Brooks said, shrugging. "Your mom can bake cookies."

"Yeah, well, next time I'll have her send you your own package, that way the rest of us get some, too."

"Works for me, Hayden."

The rest of their platoon joined up with the four cadets, and they headed for their next class, the others completely forgetting about trying to figure out what was bothering Shawn as the conversation turned to River's mother. Shawn hadn't forgotten, but he still wasn't sure what it was, and he put it out of his mind for the time being. His next class was Advanced Physics, and he needed to pay attention to that one.

"Hey!"

Shawn's attention was drawn back to the people he was walking with, and he saw that River was pointing to an announcement on the bulletin board that dominated the wall outside the Physic's lecture room.

"Adams, check it out."

The rest of the platoon moved out of the way so Shawn could see, and he grinned.

"Sam's coming to do a lecture!"

""Major O'Neill...?" Hilary Fesk asked, reading the announcement. "Astrophysics lecture..." She shrugged. "Sounds boring."

"I'm going," River said.

"Me, too," agreed one of the other guys in the class. "She's _hot_. Who cares what she's lecturing about?"

"She's married," Shawn said.

"Who _cares_?" The cadet said, grinning. "I just – _hey_!"

He scowled when Brooks slapped the back of his head, not hard enough to really hurt, but hard enough that the cadet knew the New Yorker wasn't amused with his attitude.

"Knock that shit off, Banks," Ian growled. "That's Adams' stepmother."

"Oh. Sorry, Shawn."

Shawn shrugged, telling him that it wasn't important. He was too excited that Sam was coming to be too annoyed. He supposed it would be too much to hope that Jack was going to come, too, but it'd still be great to see her.

"She didn't tell me she was coming," Shawn said.

"So that's where you get your brains, huh, Adams?"

"Dumb ass," Ian turned on the speaker – this one wasn't in their platoon, it was a Cadet who'd been listening in on the conversation as he read the other announcements. "She's his _stepmother_. How the fuck did he get his brains from her?"

The Cadet scowled, and wandered off, and River grinned.

"You're so good with others, Brooks. Have you ever thought of going into public relations when you graduate?"

"Yeah, but not even _my_ skills could make _you_ look good, Hayden."

The platoon snorted in good humor, and as a group they headed into their next class.


	3. 03

_Author's Note: Okay, I'm going to put up a quick time line here, because things are starting to get a little compacted – and it's probably going to get worse as time goes on because things are going to start jumping soon. (not necessarily in this story, but, well... they are) This story takes place almost two months after the wedding, and about 3 weeks after the interview story. The attack of the Ashrak was about a month and a half ago in the story's timeline. (No lingering injuries) So Sam is two months pregnant (and I'm not rushing to the baby, just so you all know – sorry – there's too much to be told in these months coming up) and she's had her talk with Dotty so she can go through the Stargate now without hurting the baby (remember, that was a concern in interviews) So... figure it's sometime in the middle of October..._

OOOOOOOOO

"Well... now I know how you fit into your uniform..." River grumbled, slightly out of breath.

"Screw you, Hayden," Ian panted. "I told you I was sorry."

"You're _sorry_ all right..."

The three of them were running. They did a lot of running, it seemed, since running was a favorite form of discipline used by several of the instructors of the academy, and Ian somehow always seemed to draw their ire. Of course, Shawn knew it had everything to do with the Cadet's wicked fast temper, which could be set off at the slightest phrase or implied insult. He rarely turned it on Shawn and River anymore – not seriously, anyways – but no one else was safe from it, including instructors. And there was guilt by association in the academy, so the three roommates ran a lot. Sometimes, their entire platoon ran with them, but this time it was just Ian, Shawn and River that were running the very familiar laps around the parade ground while the rest of the cadets did their afternoon physical training.

"He had it coming, all right?"

Shawn had to shake his head as he listened to Ian go into a long defense of why he'd just told one of the Seniors to go fuck himself. They were going to eventually kick Ian out of the academy if he didn't get that temper of his under control, he was sure. It was one thing to have one – Jack had a nasty temper, too, Shawn knew from experience – but he also knew when to rein that energy and when to unleash it.

Ian hadn't learned that lesson yet. Probably the only thing that saved him was the fact that he was the smartest person in their class – maybe one of the smartest in the entire school. You don't expel brains like that; not if you want to be able to put them to use later on. You disciplined, and tried to focus, and if that didn't work, you went after the genius' buddies and disciplined _them_, too, just to make the original offender feel guilty.

But that didn't work, either. River was too easy going to really mind the fact that Brooks was constantly getting them into trouble – most of the time, he was right beside the New Yorker, making remarks of his own when they were warranted.

River was the opposite of Ian when it came to that – where Ian was short-tempered and sometimes crude when his anger was roused by a perceived insult or misplaced jest, River Hayden was quick-witted and eloquent enough to make you feel stupid for saying whatever it was you'd just said. The two were always in the middle of almost any trouble that brewed among the lower classmen – sophomores and freshmen alike – and they were always dragging Shawn into it with them.

But Shawn didn't care. He didn't mind running, and he liked his two roommates enough that he'd never hold a grudge for the extra workouts. Besides, Shawn was well aware that Ian and River were both incredibly protective of him. River had been since day one, since he was Shawn's original roommate, and as far as he was concerned, you looked out for your own. Ian was the same way, once he'd decided that Shawn was one of his own – which had only taken a little longer for the New Yorker than it had for River. Shawn had his own champions in the form of his roommates, and whether he needed them or not – which he probably did – they were there for him, protecting him from the insults the upperclassmen loved to dole out to the lower classmen, and from the occasional snide remark that was handed out by a jealous classmate.

So they ran. A lot. And River grumbled about it. A lot. And Ian tried to justify himself. All the time. Ah, well, it was better than doing crunches.

OOOOOOOOOO

The room was dimly lit by the single flame of a candle sitting in a holder on a stand. Next to the stand, in a padded rocking chair, holding a cup of long-forgotten tea was a woman. She wasn't all that extraordinary looking, and aside from the large owl pendant hanging from a slim silver chain around her neck, there was nothing all that distinguishing about her. She was just a regular looking older woman, with long pale hair that was gathered into a single braid just then, and deep green eyes that were glazed and unfocused as she did some considering.

She'd found a link. Whatever had driven her away from Jack O'Neill had obviously not considered her to be as determined as she was, and after an incredible amount of searching, she'd finally found a way back to him. Well, no, not to _him_. But to the son that she had once seen in Jack O'Neill's lifeline. The son that was found. Not even Xara knew what that phrase had meant when it'd come to her mind. _Found_, not conceived. Odd. But since she knew about the son, she knew she'd be able to find him. Eventually. She knew Jack's aura, and knew what he felt like, and even though she was blocked from him – along with several of the others – they hadn't thought to protect the boy from her, and she had sent herself out looking for him, night after night, until at last she'd found him.

Now, she had the means of finding out what Jack O'Neill really _was_. A child was far easier to turn to her own will than an adult was. At least she'd assumed he would be. Young people had complex minds, but really there was very little will of their own. Mostly they were used to doing what adults told them to do – they were conditioned by their parents to obey them from the time they could first toddle, after all – and even though the boy was in his early teens – the rebellious years – he should still have enough of that conditioning in him to make him tractable.

But she'd been wrong. Something – she wasn't sure what, because it seemed very alien to her – kept his mind from reacting to her presence the way it should have. Where he should have immediately answered her questions, he'd balked, and when she'd tried to demand it, he'd actually _denied_ her! It wasn't the Presence that she'd felt before, the one that protected Jack O'Neill. It was something that was a part of the boy's very nature, and it was annoying to her to be thwarted after so much effort had been used to find him.

She made her decision, and set her tea down, then closed her eyes and concentrated for a moment, searching for that young mind. She found him easily – once she linked to something, she could almost always find her way back – and then looked at the other two who were sleeping in the room with him. Perhaps they knew? She had one way to find out.

_He was suddenly awake – but not awake... someone was with him in the room, and Ian opened his eyes and looked around. Although he didn't see anyone, he knew there was someone..._

_"You. Boy." He turned at the sound of the voice – decidedly female, and just a little arrogant. It rankled him, immediately._

_"_Boy_?"_

_She either didn't notice the ire in his voice, or she didn't care in her quest for information._

_"Yes. Tell me of your young friend."_

_"Fuck you."_

_The response made her angry, he could tell, but Ian didn't care. Especially since he was dreaming. This was classic. He could tell her off, and he wouldn't even have to run laps._

_"You have to," she told him. "I must know-"_

_"I don't have to do shit, lady," he told her, still smarting from being called a boy._

_A wave of anger buffeted him, but his own temper was roused now, and she didn't have anything he couldn't match. She recognized this immediately, and knew without searching further that she wouldn't learn anything from him. A moment later, she was gone._

Brooks sat up in his bed, suddenly wide-awake and looking around, certain thee was someone with him. He scowled, and wondered why he felt so angry, but when he didn't see anything, and didn't hear anything, he shrugged, and laid back against the pillows, trying to remember the weird dream he'd just had. It took a long time before he could get back to sleep.


	4. 04

"Cadet Brooks, perhaps a few laps around the parade ground would help you keep your mind on what's going on around you?"

Ian managed to look apologetic and scowl at the same time.

"Yes, Sir."

He took off at a quick jog, well aware of the route around the parade grounds. He'd run it a million times already, it seemed. The cadet sighed, and shook his head when he heard the all too familiar words, "You, too, Cadet Adams, and Cadet Rivers..." which meant that the instructor had decided – unfairly _this time_ – that Shawn and Hayden had something to do with Ian's inattentiveness during the morning calisthenics.

A moment later Adams and Hayden were both running to catch up to him, and when they did the three fell into an easy rhythm. They were good at running together, even though the older two took much longer strides than Shawn did.

"Well... _shit_..."

"Sorry, River," Ian told him, genuinely contrite. Even more, Hayden _knew_ he was sorry, because he'd called him by his first name – which he rarely did.

"What's going on, Ian?" Shawn asked. "You didn't even notice when Samuels flipped you off. I figured sure we'd be running for _that_."

"I don't know," Ian told them, shrugging. "I'm a bit distracted, I guess."

"You feeling okay?"

"Yeah."

"Something you ate?"

"I just _said_ I feel fine, Adams."

"A girl?" River asked. "I've seen the way you look at Hilary..."

"No."

"A _guy_?" Shawn asked, grinning, knowing the response he was going to get this time. Sure enough, Ian didn't fail him.

"Fuck you, Adams."

"Seriously, Brooks..." River said as they made their first turn. "What's-"

He was interrupted when the three of them were suddenly joined by another runner. This one was dark, and huge and he angled across the parade grounds to intercept Shawn – who suddenly found himself bowled over in a tangle of feet, legs and a wickedly fast tail that was wagging furiously.

Ignoring the fact that he had grass in his short hair, Shawn grinned hugely and tried to roll over, only to find himself pinned down.

"Jaffer!"

The black lab wuffled his neck and took a couple swipes at him with his tongue.

"Let me up, tubby," Shawn complained, rolling over under the dog so he could look up. Sure enough, Jaffer was standing over him, big feet on either side of his head, and the back feet on either side of his hips, staring down at him with cheerful brown eyes.

"Hey, Jaffer."

Shawn looked over and saw that River and Ian had stopped running as well, and had come over. Ian especially loved Jaffer – who was the same breed and color as his own black lab, Bubba. Although Jaffer was larger than his own dog.

"What's he doing here, Shawn?" River asked, grinning at the way the lab had his roommate so neatly trapped under him.

"Sam's lecture is today. He must have come with her." He wondered if Jack had come as well.

"We're going to get in trouble," Ian said, looking over at the instructor. He saw that Major O'Neill was standing next to the Lieutenant, and they and the rest of the class were all looking at the three cadets and lab.

"What is he going to do?" River asked. "Make us run laps?"

"Good point. But we-"

He was interrupted by a whistle being blown, and the three saw the Lieutenant waving them in.

"Let me up, Jaffer."

This time the lab did as he was told, stepping neatly off Shawn and moving to the side. Ian and River both reached down and grabbed the younger cadet and pulled him easily to his feet.

"You okay?"

"Yeah." Shawn slapped some stray grass off his uniform – he'd have to change now, for sure. "Jaffer wouldn't hurt me."

The black lab wagged his tail, fiercely. Nope, _he_ wouldn't hurt Shawn! He _liked_ Shawn!

They trotted back to the rest of the class, with Jaffer strutting next to Shawn, who didn't weigh much more than the lab did.

"Sorry about that, Lieutenant," Sam was saying when they got within hearing. "He doesn't always do what I tell him." It was obvious Sam was talking about Jaffer, who came over and sat down next to her, perfectly at heel and looking innocent.

"I can understand that, Major," the Lieutenant said, nodding. "They don't always do what I tell them to do, either." It was just as obvious who he was referring to, and Sam smiled.

"Adams, go change."

"Yes, Sir."

"You're dismissed until lunch."

"Yes, Sir."

Shawn gave his roommates a look that told them he'd see them at lunch, and turned to head off the parade ground. Sam fell into step beside him a moment later, a smile on her face.

"You look good, Shawn." She told him, resisting the urge to give him a hug. That definitely wouldn't have been a good idea – he'd have been teased the rest of his life.

"You do, too, Sam. How are you?"

"Great." She answered, smiling. "Jack wanted to come, but he absolutely couldn't get out of training exercises today – flight training for some of the advanced pilots – so you just get me."

"And Jaffer."

"And Jaffer." She agreed.

"I'm glad to see you, Sam," Shawn assured her – unnecessarily. She knew he was. "I was planning on going to your lecture."

"You want to help give it?" She teased.

He grinned, and shook his head.

"Um... no."

"What were you running for?"

"Ian got in trouble for not paying attention, and since River and I were closest to him, I guess the Lieutenant figured we were the reason he wasn't."

"Were you?"

"Not this time."

She laughed as they walked inside the main Cadet dorm.

"Which means you've done more running than just today?"

"Oh yeah. We're running fools."

"Why am I not surprised?"

Shawn gave her an innocent look that she immediately recognized as Jack's, and this time she couldn't help but put her arm around him in a half hug. They were inside, now, so no one would notice.

"It's usually Ian's fault – but sometimes it's River's."

"And never _yours_?" She asked, her eyes laughing.

"Of course not. Everyone knows I'm sweet and innocent."

"Of _course_ they do..."

Even Jaffer snorted at that.


	5. 05

"So, how's the baby?" Shawn asked as they reached his room.

Sam smiled, her hand going automatically to her lower abdomen, protectively.

"He's fine."

"_He_?" Shawn asked, smiling. "You know what it is already?"

Sam shook her head.

"No, it's way too early to find out, but Jack and everyone else are so sure it's going to be a girl, and I'm thinking it's going to be a boy."

"He's already had a son..." Shawn said. It was a lot easier to bring up Charlie with Sam than it was with Jack. "What makes you so sure he's going to make another?"

"He's had _two_ sons," Sam reminded Shawn with a smile as she closed the door behind them. "And I don't think it matters. I'll have to research that, I suppose... but I'm sure it's a boy."

"It _doesn't_ matter, Sam," Shawn said, sitting down on River's bed. If Sam didn't think it was awkward discussing her pregnancy with him, then he figured he might as well let her know the facts. "I've been taking Genetics with the... um... with Thor, you know? We've already covered all that. That kid you're carrying has as good a chance of being a boy as it does of being a girl. But the odds say he's going to have Jack's hair and eyes."

"And his sunny personality?" She asked, taking everything he'd just told her at face value. She knew that if he was telling her this, then it was probably true, and she wouldn't go look it up to see if he was right; because she was sure he was.

Shawn shrugged.

"We haven't covered that, yet."

"So I have to go by what I've seen," Sam told him, a twinkle in her blue eyes as she hopped lightly up to sit on Ian's bed. "So... if it's a genetic thing, and the boy's going to have Jack's eyes and hair color, and you have Jack's eyes and hair color, then logically I can assume that he's going to be a lot like you, right?"

"I don't know..." Shawn admitted, rubbing Jaffer's ears when the black lab came over to join him on River's bed – Ian's was too high for him to jump to.

"Well, if he is, then I'm going to be the mother of a wonderful little kid," Sam said. "After all, I'm already the stepmother of a great young man."

Shawn blushed brilliantly, and Sam grinned. She rarely had a chance to embarrass him anymore.

"Thanks, Sam..."

"You're welcomed."

She looked around his room, more to give him a chance to get his heated cheeks cooled off a little, and smiled at the picture of her, Jack, Jaffer and Shawn that was sitting on the desk by the bed.

"What are you going to name him? Junior?"

She shook her head.

"Jack says we can't name him after _him_ – if we have a boy."

"Well, you can't name it after Jack if it's a _girl_."

"He's already come up with a million names for little girls," she assured him. "He's had help, after all. The latest I've heard is Rebecca and Mallory."

"Rebecca is okay, I suppose. Mallory sounds like a duck."

"Both would be bad names for a little boy, though."

"Well, since Jack has help coming up with girl names, I'll help you come up with boy names, okay?"

"Like...?"

"Oh... Billy Bob... Joe Bob... Jim Bo-"

"He can't have the middle name 'Bob'," Sam said, laughing. "Nothing Bob O'Neill, okay?"

"I'll have River and Ian help me think of some, and we'll keep a list of all the good ones." Shawn promised. "What's the point of having roommates if they're not going to be good for something, right?"

"Just out of curiosity, why are you guys still three to a room?" She asked. "I thought that was just a temporary thing?" A _punishment_ was what she'd heard, but she didn't mention that.

"It was but no one wants to be Ian's roommate, and we're used to him, so we asked to stay together and they let us."

"It's not too crowded?"

He smiled and shook his head.

"It's a lot better than I could have imagined. Those two crack me up."

"I'm sure you're learning lots of colorful phrases from them," Sam drawled, remembering that Ian Brooks had quite a mouth on him when he wasn't paying attention to what he was saying. She was sure River wasn't too much different.

Shawn gave her that same innocent look – and she couldn't help but wonder if her baby would be able to do that look as well.

"Not me, Sam... I'm sweet and innocent, remember?"

She laughed, and Shawn stood up and reached into his wardrobe for a fresh uniform to replace his grass-stained one.

"Uh huh..."

"No," Shawn told her half-seriously, "The last person I swore at was the crazy lady in my dream... other than that, I've been pretty good about keeping my mouth clean. I figure Ian and River get me into enough trouble; I don't need to make more for myself. Besides, I don't want to get into the habit of saying words I'd need to censor for any visit home."

"Very sensible," Sam told him, grinning. "Why are you cussing out crazy ladies in your dreams?"

Shawn shrugged, looking sheepish.

"I'm not sure, really. I can't even remember what the dream was about. Just some kooky woman, I guess..." He headed for the door, carrying his uniform. "I'll be right back, okay?"

Stepmother or not; friend or not; there was no _way_ Shawn was going to change clothes in front of Sam.

"Okay."

She watched as he left, closing the door behind him, and then looked around the room from her perch high up on the top bunk. What she didn't notice, however, was the odd look in Jaffer's fathomless brown eyes as the black lab stared at the door the boy had just vanished through.


	6. 06

_Author's Note: I don't know the rules about people eating with the cadets in the lunchroom, either, but since it's my story, I suppose I can do whatever I want, eh? If anyone out there is a purist and says it's not realistic, I suppose I could mention that the Stargate isn't all that realistic, either, huh? Hehe. But I sure have fun with it!_

OOOOOOOO

They chatted for the next fifteen minutes or so, but Sam had a lecture to get ready for, so they headed out of Shawn's room and towards the Physics classroom, which was where she was going to be giving her lecture. It wasn't just for his class – anyone interested in Astrophysics could attend – but Shawn was planning to go, so he hung out and helped her set up the dry erase board and other charts she had prepared for the lecture while they chatted more about what had been going on with the people in the SGC. They didn't mention the SGC, of course, just the people, and Shawn was glad to hear about the people he'd come to feel were a second family to him.

"What's with him?" Shawn asked, as he turned and almost stumbled over Jaffer. The black lab had been close to him – so close he was sometimes touching him – ever since he'd returned from changing into his clean uniform.

Sam smiled, and shrugged.

"He probably misses you."

Shawn's answering grin was positively beaming, and he hugged the big dog cheerfully – after looking around to make sure no one was there to see it.

"I've missed him, too." But he sure was acting possessive.

"Major O'Neill, may I say you have the best timing I've ever seen?"

They all three looked over and saw River walking through the door of the Physics room, a broad smile on his tanned face.

"Oh?"

"I'd probably still be running if you hadn't shown up and sicced Jaffer on Shawn."

Sam smiled, and held her hand out to the cadet when he reached her.

"_I_ didn't have anything to do with it, but thank you for the thought. How have you been, River?"

"Sweet and innocent, as usual."

"Funny... Shawn told me that's how _he_ was, and I didn't believe it anymore when it was coming from him than I do when it's coming from you."

"That's because they're _both_ tools of Satan," Came a drawling voice from the doorway. "You should see them trying to corrupt me, Major... you'd be horrified."

Now Sam was really smiling, since she _definitely_ knew Ian Brooks wasn't a saint. The New Yorker walked over and bowed extravagantly to her.

"Good morning, Ma'am."

"Good morning, Cadet Brooks." She held her hand out to him, as well, and Ian took it with one of his rare smiles. "How are you?"

"Fabulous. You look very good, too, if I might add without running the risk of being bitten." He looked down at Jaffer, who was still practically pinned against Shawn. The black lab wagged his tail cheerfully. "You do, too, Jaffer."

"Thank you, Cadet." Sam wasn't above enjoying a little flattery when it came from handsome young men, after all. "Are you two coming to my lecture?"

"Wouldn't miss it for the world," River told her. Not that he needed Astrophysics to be a pilot, but it wouldn't hurt to know about other stuff besides just flying. Who knew what else he might want to do between missions?

Ian nodded.

"Someone has to keep these two out of trouble."

"Oh? So, _you're_ not the reason for all the running this morning?" Sam asked him, a twinkle in her eyes.

"Well... this morning... maybe..."

"And yesterday." River reminded him.

"And the day before," Shawn added.

"No, not the day before." Ian said, suppressing the urge to flip them off – which wouldn't do just then. Not with Major O'Neill in the room. "That one was River."

"Not the _afternoon_ run."

"Yeah... but the morning one was..."

Sam chuckled, wondering just how much running they were doing. Obviously a lot. She'd have to look into it, though, to make sure it wasn't anything too serious. It wouldn't do to have Shawn – or his roommates – getting into too much trouble their first year. Although they were going to be in great shape before it was over, at this rate.

The chatting stopped then, because other cadets were starting to enter the room and take seats. Sam headed for the center of the room, while Shawn, River and Ian took seats as well, followed closely by Jaffer, who was sniffing River, now, and then Ian. Ian didn't mind at all – he liked Jaffer – and he scratched the black lab's ears idly while the room continued to fill. As Sam started to speak, Jaffer went over and flopped down at Shawn's feet, and the room was filled with the sound of people taking notes, and Sam's complicated lecture.

OOOOOOOOOOO

"So?"

"I didn't hear anyone snoring," Shawn said as Sam was packing up her notes and charts.

"Well... that's a plus, I suppose," she said, drolly.

"It was a good lecture, Major O'Neill," Ian assured her.

"Not too complicated?"

"Oh, it was _complicated_, but there's nothing wrong with that. It's not like anyone in the room was an idiot, after all. If they don't understand, they could have asked, right?"

"Did _you_ understand it?" Sam asked him.

"Of course."

He did, too, Sam knew. Just by the lazy way he'd mentioned it. There was no confused look in his dark eyes, and he was far too comfortable with her for him to be exaggerating. She had a feeling if she asked him a question about the lecture, he wouldn't even have to look at his notes to answer it.

"Are you going to stay for lunch, Sam?" Shawn asked her, pulling her out of her thoughts.

"Sure."

She'd stick around and hang out with Shawn – and his roommates – as long as she could, which meant until lunch was over and they had to get back to their classes. It wasn't every day she had a chance to hang out in her old haunts, after all, and she was enjoying herself.


	7. 07

Lunch was great, as far as Sam was concerned. Not only did she thoroughly enjoy the company of Shawn, and the other cadets – both of his roommates and the other cadets in his platoon – but she was really enjoying being back at the academy and greeting the occasional instructor who came by that she knew – both from her own time here, and because she'd gone to the academy _with_ them. If not for the SGC, Sam knew it was very likely she would be here, instructing at the academy as well, and as she looked around at the noisy bustle, she shrugged. It wouldn't have been so bad. Nothing at all like what she was doing – and she had no intention of stopping what she was doing – but it'd always be a fall back career, she supposed. She wasn't the only one looking around, though, and she wasn't the only one with her mind on other things.

"Who's the Major with Adams?"

A group of cadets sitting at the table nearest the door looked over at the loudest and noisiest table – the one where the big black lab was doing all sorts of cool tricks for Shawn and Sam.

"That's Samantha O'Neill," One of the cadets answered, looking over. "I was at her lecture – she's some kind of genius, let me tell you."

"What's she hanging out with _Adams_ for?"

"He's a genius, too, right?" Answered one of the others. "Maybe they're in some kind of genius club or something."

"Dip shit," one of the others said, scornfully. "She's his stepmother."

"Bullshit."

All eyes were turned on the cadet, who loved this fact, and couldn't help but puff up just a little at being the center of attention.

"How do you know _that_?" One of them asked.

"Brooks told me."

He didn't mention that Brooks had told him that after calling him a dumb ass, or that he'd said it after the cadet had wondered if she was where Shawn got his brains from, but from the interested looks on the faces of the others, he didn't have to.

"Really?"

"Yup."

"He'd know." Said one of them.

"He's a _bastard_..." Said another.

"He's Adams' _roommate_, though. Roommates tell each other things, right?"

There were nods all around, and they all looked over at the far table once more.

They weren't the only ones. One of the senior members of the school's echelon had just happened to be on the other side of the open door and had heard the entire conversation. Not that he'd meant to actually eavesdrop on the cadets – officers and gentlemen didn't 'snoop' - but it'd been hard to miss. As the Colonel walked by, the young men fell silent as a sign of respect, but he ignored them, and headed over to greet Samantha – who had been one of his students there when she'd been younger and so had he.

As he said his hellos, he couldn't help but glance at the boy in question a couple of times. The Colonel knew who Sam was married to – everyone did – and although he didn't know Jack O'Neill very well personally, there was a great interest in the man who was practically a legend in the area, at least.

Adams looked a little like Jack O'Neill, the Colonel decided, and he wondered why the boy's last name wasn't O'Neill. _Bastard_ meant very little in modern day America, but he couldn't see why O'Neill didn't claim the boy. Of course, it was also plausible that Jack O'Neill had claimed him in every way he could - there was a mother involved somewhere, of course - and it was obvious now why the boy was in the academy – even with brains like that. His father, who everyone knew was some kind of friend of the President's, had greased the way for him. Nothing wrong with that, as far as the Colonel was concerned. That's what fathers did for their sons, after all. But he couldn't wait to tell the others. This was, indeed, gossip fodder, and really there were few people who loved to gossip more than Air Force Officers.

By the end of the night, the news would be all over the top levels of the chain of command in the academy. By the end of the week, it'd be everywhere else. Out of respect – or maybe fear – of Colonel Jack O'Neill, the word wouldn't be passed to him, but everyone else who was interested was going to know about Shawn Adams' paternity, that was for sure.

OOOOOOOOOO

"Colonel O'Neill," the voice on the radio was staticky from the distance he was flying and the speed, but Jack didn't have any trouble understanding it. He toggled his mike.

"Yeah?"

"You have a call, Sir."

"_What_?"

They surely weren't interrupting his mock dog-fight to patch through a phone call?

"It's _Major_ O'Neill, Sir. She says it's important."

"I'll be right there."

"It's not an emergency, she said to tell you..."

Of course it had to be important, Jack knew. If it weren't, Sam wouldn't be calling. That she'd said it wasn't an emergency told him that _she_ was fine, and there was nothing so wrong that he had to panic and land faster than he should. The baby was fine. Jaffer was fine. Shawn was fine. But she needed him. Now.

He signaled to the others in his flight, telling them he was leaving the combat area, and dropped below the curtain, only pulling out his landing gear and flaps at the last minute. The landing was as smooth as glass – as always – and he rolled to a stop less than 20 feet from a jeep that was obviously waiting for him.

A First Lieutenant was waiting for him with a field phone, which he handed over to Jack a soon as the Colonel reached him. Jack took it with a nod of thanks, and the Lieutenant moved politely out of earshot.

"Sam?"

"Jack. Hi." She sounded upset – but mostly frustrated.

"What's wrong?"

"I'm not sure," came the reply. "I can't get Jaffer to come with me."

"What?"

"He won't leave the academy, Jack. I've tried everything."

Well, it was a lot more serious than it sounded, since rumors to the contrary, Jaffer would do anything for Sam. Obviously there was something going on that the dog sensed, and Sam didn't know.

"I'll be right there."

He hung up the phone and handed it to the Lieutenant.

"I need you to drive me to my truck."

"Aye, aye, Sir."


	8. 08

When Jack's truck pulled into the parking lot he had no trouble finding Sam. She was standing by her car, with Jaffer and Shawn, and a couple of instructors from the academy all standing there as well. He turned the truck off, and got out, and Jaffer came over wagging his tail, slightly, but looking decidedly guilty.

"What's going on, Little Man?" Jack asked his dog, reaching down and rubbing his side before walking over to join Sam, who looked to be close to tears. Which explained why Jaffer was looking so guilty.

"Jack."

He nodded a greeting to the other officers, and gave Shawn a quick pat on his shoulder, but Sam was too upset for Jack to want to do anything but reassure her.

"What's going on?" he asked, resting his hand lightly on Sam's lower back, trying to comfort her without being too obvious.

"I don't know. I can't get him to get into the car. He won't budge."

"He growled at me when I tried to pick him up," the Captain who'd been standing closest to Sam's car said, a trifle petulantly.

Jack was sure Jaffer had done more than growl. Probably, he'd given a fairly good view of his teeth as well.

He opened the back door to Sam's car.

"Get in Jaffer."

The head went down, the ears lowered guiltily, and the black lab didn't move.

Huh.

"Jaffer..."

The tail went between his legs. Jack had never seen Jaffer looking so apologetic – and that dog had done a lot to be apologetic for when he'd been younger.

"Try the truck, Jack," Shawn suggested. "Maybe he doesn't want to go into Sam's car..."

The Captain gave Shawn a sharp look – for speaking out of turn most likely, and Jack had to bite back a snarl that definitely wouldn't have made Shawn any friends. Instead, O'Neill walked over to his truck, and opened the passenger door, and looked at Jaffer.

"Come on, Jaffer."

Again the head went down, and the feet planted themselves firmly.

"Pick him up, Colonel." The Commandant suggested, shrugging. "He wouldn't bite you, surely."

Jack wasn't worried about being bitten. He knew Jaffer wouldn't hurt him. But he also knew there was something decidedly wrong.

"It's not Ashrak, is it?" Sam asked him softly, having walked over to join him by the truck.

Jack shook his head.

"My head doesn't hurt." Dotty had told them about the headache he'd get if there were Ashrak nearby.

"Well, what do you think is wrong?"

"Beats me."

He looked over at Shawn.

"Come here, Shawn. Get into the truck and see if Jaffer will get in, too."

The Cadet trotted over and got in, then patted his leg.

"Come on, Jaffer."

Nothing. The black lab just stared at them.

"So he's not tying to get us to take Shawn..."

"Nope."

Jack walked over and knelt next to the lab, looking to see if maybe he just didn't feel good. Maybe he didn't want to go for a car ride? His eyes were clear, though, and Jack knew he'd be able to tell if there was something wrong with him, health-wise. All he felt, though, was a sense of unease that was probably being caused by how upset Sam had looked when he'd pulled in.

"Well..." He sighed, and stroked Jaffer's head. "I guess he's staying here tonight."

"What?" The Captain looked outraged. "He can't-"

"Captain, control yourself," This came from the Commandant. The Captain quieted immediately.

"You honestly can't get him to go into the truck, Colonel O'Neill?"

Jack shook his head.

"No, Sir."

"I don't fancy the thought of him staying here for the rest of the quarter..."

"I don't either."

Of course, after the attack on the boys only a month and a half ago both men were a little uneasy at the way the dog was acting. The Commandant was the only one on his staff that knew the attack wasn't really a group of escaped convicts – although he hadn't shared that information with the others – and he was a firm believer in dogs being able to sense trouble.

"Maybe for the night," he said dubiously, looking down at the lab and over at Shawn. "Perhaps if he had a chance to see that everything is all right here..."

Jack wasn't so sure, but he shrugged. He didn't really want to be apart from Jaffer that long – even a night would feel like forever – but there was no way he was going to force the dog into his truck knowing he didn't want to go.

"Fine, Sir." He said. "I'll come by in the morning and see if he's had a change of heart..."

"But, Sir! We can't have pets-"

"He's not a _pet_," The Commandant said, holding a hand up to stop the Captain. "He's a trained military guard dog, and it won't kill us to have him here for one night." The Commandant looked at Shawn. "You're responsible for him, Cadet. No messes on the grounds, and keep him close to you."

Shawn nodded, wondering what he was supposed to do if Jaffer decided to just go ahead and do whatever he wanted to. If _Jack_ couldn't get him to listen, there was no way Shawn was going to be able to, after all.

"Yes, Sir."

"Captain, go inform Cadet Adams' instructors that he'll be excused from his classes for the rest of the day."

"Yes, Sir."

Clearly outraged, the Captain stalked off, leaving the others still standing by the truck.

"I honestly don't know what's wrong with him, Bill."

"It's all right, Jack. It's better to be safe than sorry, and like I said; one day won't kill us. He won't chew any of the cadets up, will he?"

"Not if they don't give him a reason..."

"I don't intend to let him close to them."

The Commandant turned to Shawn.

"Cadet, you'll be excused from your classes the rest of the day," he repeated. "I hate to say you're confined to quarters, but I would like for you to remain close to them, unless the dog needs out."

"Yes, Sir." It wasn't going to hurt Shawn to miss a class, and they all knew it. He was already well ahead in all of them.

"Dismissed."

Shawn looked like he wanted to say something – at least goodbye – but he knew when he was dismissed, he was dismissed. He gave the Commandant a salute – a parade perfect one, Jack noticed – and turned on his heels and started across the grounds towards the buildings.

Jaffer looked up at Jack, still looking incredibly guilty, and Jack sighed and looked down at him, feeling a pang of loss at the thought of not bringing him home with him.

"You'd better get going, Little Man," he said, softly. "I'll be back in the morning to see if you've changed your mind..."

Jaffer whuffled his hand, then Sam's, and took off after Shawn at a run.

"I'll be back in the morning, Bill."

"We'll call you if anything happens."

Jack nodded, and shook hands with him, and the Commandant left as well, leaving the two of them standing alone.

Jack turned to Sam, who'd been watching his eyes grow pained. His pain was nothing compared to how guilty she felt, though, and he saw that in her expression. It was amazing how well they could read each other.

"Don't be upset, Sam," He told her, putting his arm around her, gently. "It's only one day, after all."

"I'm sorry, Jack... I tried to get him to-"

"Ah, he's stubborn, you know that." He kissed her softly, and gave her a hug, then took her hand and walked her to her car. "It's probably goulash night or something here..."

She gave him a smile – which he'd intended – and opened the car door.

"I could make goulash..."

"Nah, we'll go out tonight. My treat. You pick the place, and I'll even wear a tie..."

She nodded.

"I'll think of a place."

"I'll race you back to the base."

"You'll speed," She accused him.

He gave her an innocent look – and she couldn't help but remember the same look Shawn had given her earlier that morning.

"Me?? I'm sweet and innocent."

"My ass."

He laughed, and waited for her to drive off before going back to his truck. He took another long look the direction Jaffer and Shawn had gone, and sighed. Feeling like he was leaving half of himself behind, he got into the truck and headed back to the SGC.


	9. 09

"What's _he_ doing here?" River asked when Jaffer and Shawn entered their room.

"You _stole_ Colonel O'Neill's dog?" Ian asked, amazed.

The two of them were just getting ready to go to their next class – a class that Shawn didn't have to go to, now. There was only one class left on the day – after lunch there were only two, and Shawn had missed the first one while he and Sam had been struggling with Jaffer.

"Of course not," Shawn said, sitting down on River's bed. Jaffer hopped right up next to him, and wallowed in the fact that both of the other cadets came over to pet him. "He wouldn't get in the car with Sam – and wouldn't do it for Jack when he came, either, so he's staying with us tonight."

"Does the Commandant know that?" Ian asked.

Shawn nodded.

"_Sweet_!" Brooks ran his hand along Jaffer's silky ear. "He's going to cause quite the distraction in Current Affairs, won't he? I bet Captain Haugh forgets to even give us the test he said he had planned for us."

"He _might_," Shawn said, nodding. "Except that I'm excused from classes for the rest of the day so we don't cause a distraction."

"Awww, shit..."

Shawn smiled. Like Ian had anything to fear from a simple test!

"Too bad, loser," River said, straightening his tie. "Looks like you have to take that test, after all."

"Yeah, well... just don't copy my answers this time, okay dipshit?"

"I want to _pass_ the test, shit for brains," River told him heading for the door. "We'll see you in a bit, Shawn."

The younger cadet nodded, watching them go and listening as they argued the entire way down the hall and out of hearing. Then he turned to Jaffer.

"What's going on with you?" he asked, stroking the black lab's side. Not that he didn't like the company, but he didn't like things out of order, and this was definitely odd. Jaffer whuffled his cheek for a moment, then flopped down on the bed and went to sleep with a sigh.

Shawn frowned; he'd sort of been expecting something weird to happen – but when Jaffer closed his eyes the dog made it pretty apparent that he wasn't there to do tricks or conjure up any unseen enemy. The young man shrugged, and went to his desk. He had things he could do, he supposed. Maybe work on some of those Asgard lessons.

OOOOOOOO

The rest of the day was a pretty lazy one. Once classes were done, they had free time until dinner. This was normally time they spent out on the field – either goofing off with the rest of the members of their platoon, playing football, or catch, or just messing around and listening to Ian pick fights with other cadets – but since Shawn was under orders to stay close to the dorms, he was more or less removed from that activity that evening. Which was too bad, because he would have enjoyed showing off Jaffer to the others. Shawn wasn't above being proud of Jack's black lab, after all – especially since he was the smartest dog alive (as far as Shawn was concerned).

Dinner was more of the same – Shawn was given permission to take a tray to his room, since the cooks didn't want the lab in the dining room again without him being under direct supervision of an officer – although the rest of the night was more enjoyable since the room filled with cadets who came by to watch Jaffer do tricks which they bribed him into doing with various treats from care packages from home.

Jaffer was more than willing to show off his tricks in exchange for a cookie here, or a piece of smoked salmon – or even a piece of a donut. He wasn't picky – even though he'd had a fine dinner. Eventually, though, the crowd was shooed away by the floor guards, who told everyone that lights were going to be going out in an hour so they'd better get their shit together and get their teeth brushed and say their prayers.

"He's not sleeping on my bed tonight, is he?" River asked as they were all getting ready for bed. The bed wasn't all _that_ big, and Jaffer took up a lot of it. The lab rolled over onto his back, wagging his tail.

Shawn shrugged.

"I don't know. Probably he's just in your bed because you don't have the bunk above it." That was why everyone else sat on River's bed, after all. They never had to worry about bashing their heads on the bottom of the top bunk.

"He can sleep with me," Ian offered from above Shawn.

"Once he learns how to fly..." River drawled.

Since Shawn had already worked on his Asgard lessons, he crawled into bed with the intentions of actually getting a little more sleep than usual that night. Almost immediately after he made himself comfortable, Jaffer rolled off River's bed, and jumped up beside Shawn, his head coming down to rest on Shawn's thigh. With a noise of relief, River sprawled on his bed.

"He probably figured your pajamas would keep him awake if he slept with you," Brooks said, reaching over and turning off the light.

"Screw you."

Shawn snickered.

"You, too, Adams."

There was a snort of amusement from above Shawn, and then the rustling sounds of the three of them getting comfortable. Eventually, though, the room quieted as they each drifted off to sleep, until the only sound in the room was the gentle snoring of the black lab.

OOOOOOOOO

_She'd struck out with two of them, but she was certain the third wouldn't be so stubborn. Where the boy was blocked to her by whatever it was in his mind that kept her from being able to force him to answer her, and the second one had been so angry and stubborn that he, too, was blocked to her intrusions, she'd had a chance to link with the third one the night before, and had seen that he was far more mild-mannered. He would be the weak link, she was certain, and she knew that that night she would finally have some answers._

_She was so eager for those answers that she grew careless, and didn't look to make sure the three were the only ones in the room before her wandering consciousness centered on the sleeper on the single bed, and a moment later she was in his mind, and in his dreams._

_River opened his eyes, aware he wasn't alone, and he started to sit up to look around him. There was a presence here... a female one._

_A dream? He wondered. Which girl was he dreaming about tonight? He frowned when he didn't see anyone – what the heck kind of dream was this when you couldn't see who you were dreaming about – and the frown deepened a moment later, when he heard the voice. It was an older voice than any of the voices that he normally associated with the girls he dreamed about._

"_Yes... you will do nicely..."_

"_What?"_

"_You're far more relaxed than your friends..."_

"_My friends? What about them?" He struggled to wake up, wondering if something was going on with Shawn and Ian that he had missed, and felt the woman's presence trying to soothe him. _

"_Relax, young man." She wasn't going to make the mistake she'd made with the other and call him a boy. "I'm not going to hurt you. I-"_

_Then they weren't alone. River knew it immediately, and so did Xara. A Presence so powerful that it fairly glowed struck then, a snarl filling the air as she suddenly found herself frozen, pinned by a Power that was so much greater than her own that she was unable to even struggle against it._

_The voice that spoke then was deep, and masculine, and nothing River had ever heard before._

"_You were warned..."_


	10. 10

_She was caught like a rabbit was caught in the talons of an eagle, and with just as little hope of mercy. As he'd said; she had been warned. And she'd made her decision to seek out those closest to the one she'd been warned away from. She shivered in fear, and waited for the blow that would fall and destroy her mind – and with it her body._

_"_Wait_!"_

_River felt the fear of the woman and the anger of the Presence, and reacted to both. This was_ his _dream, after all, right? He couldn't allow such an awful fate to befall someone in his dram. His good nature recoiled from the very thought._

_The Presence turned to him, and River felt none of the anger that was radiating at the woman being turned onto himself._

_"She is_ dangerous_, boy. She must be stopped."_

_"She's_ helpless_..." He answered._

_There was the crux of it all, and the Presence gave a purely frustrated sigh._

_"You have a protective soul, boy, and a generous spirit. You feel for those who cannot defend themselves – and this is a good trait for someone like yourself to have, because it will serve you well as you grow into your role in life. But this is different... she's not as helpless as she appears – and nowhere near as innocuous. You don't know the full story... and you cannot know it."_

_"She's-"_

_"_Dangerous Deceitful_. And has once again shown up in a place she has_ no _business going."_

_This was another voice. Another female voice, and one that was filled with just as much power as the first female's, but nowhere near as much as the masculine one. There was no comparing that Presence to any of these. Not even to River's and it was his dream._

_"I should have killed her when she first meddled." The male said._

_Xara struggled in his grasp, and felt the hold on her tighten. Had she needed to breathe in this form, she would have died, for there was no part of her that could move, now._

_"_I _promised her she wouldn't die," the female answered. "She's done us a service, and-"_

_"We let her live." The male said. "With the understanding that she not return – and here she is."_

_"I have to know!" She didn't need to move to be able to cry out. "What is_ he_?! Who is_ he_?!"_

_"He's_ my _business, not yours!"_

_Now the anger was deafening – a crashing rage that was ready to strike, and although it wasn't directed at River, he could feel it, and he recoiled from it._

_"You can't kill her." The other female didn't fear the anger, and it showed. "I gave her my promise."_

_"She went after your_ son_! My_ grands_-"_

_"I know what she did." The voice was just as cold, but there was no killing hatred. "I am aware of it, now, and will make sure she can't do anything to him or the other two, now. Never again."_

_"It's not enough."_

_"Then deal with her. But don't kill her. I gave her my word."_

_"I didn't."_

_"My word holds you, and you know it."_

_"_I'm not your son_..." River spoke up, confused by what was going on – which wasn't fair, since it was his dream – and the Presence turned to him as the female sent a surge of amusement._

_"No," she said, and he suddenly felt a caress as gentle as one his mother might have given him. "You're not my son – but you're a fine young man, and a good friend to my son – who_ does _need such friends."_

_He suddenly put two and two together. He wasn't stupid, after all, and this woman just felt similar to..._

_"_Shawn_. You're Shawn's-"_

_"Enough."_

_The male interrupted them, and River turned._

_"I won't kill her – although she deserves it. But she will not return, and she will never be able to."_

_He turned his attention to Xara, who had watched the conversation between the boy and the other woman, but she hadn't learned anything she didn't already know._

_"You will never leave your body again." The voice said, with no trace of the towering rage it'd once held. "The moment your soul leaves its vessel to go searching where it doesn't belong, both will be destroyed."_

_"That's the same as killing me..." she protested._

_"Except it will be_ you _who does it. You know the risks, now, and if you attempt any more of your wanderings into places that are not your own mind, then you will deal with the consequences you have created. Live or die. The choice is your own."_

_There was a snapping sound, and a wail, and the presence of the old woman was gone, leaving the three of them alone._

_"Is she...?"_

_There was a pause._

_"She's safe enough. I've sent her back to where she belongs. What she does now is none of my concern."_

_"Who was she?"_

_"An_ annoyance_," the male grumbled._

_"A rarity among your kind," the female answered. "One who truly possessed a rare ability."_

_"Who are you?" River asked, picking up on the way she made it sound as if she were different from himself._

_"That I can't tell you. Not even_ here_, where you won't remember."_

_"I won't tell."_

_There was more gentle amusement._

_"I'm not worried about you telling anyone."_

_"Then-"_

_"River." The male interrupted, although there was no sign of impatience in his voice. "She_ can't _tell you."_

_"Who are_ you_, then? Some kind of Guardian spirit?"_

_"Something like that." The Presence agreed._

_"For Shawn?"_

_"No."_

_"For-"_

_"Enough." The voice cut him off with an amused tone, and even River felt himself smiling, although he wasn't sure what was so funny. "I won't play guessing games with you, boy. Not when you're quick enough you might make the right guess. Go to sleep, now, and forget everything you've seen."_

_"Oh, I'm not going to_ forget_-"_

_"You'll forget," the woman assured him, and he felt another tender, motherly caress. He closed his eyes, suddenly feeling exhausted. He drifted off to sleep, the remainder of their conversation gentle in his ears._

_"She's truly taken care of?"_

_"She won't cause any more trouble for anyone."_

_"But she's alive."_

_"Would I lie to you?"_

_There was a chuckle, and he felt the edges of a wave of love that passed between the two, and then if they said anything else, he didn't hear it as sleep finally pulled him under._


	11. 11

_Author's note: Okay, for the record: Jaffer is a_ dog_. He's not an Ancient in the form of a dog and he's separate from the Presence – although they're connected in ways that will be explored completely in future stories. The Presence_ is _related to Dotty – she's called him '_father' _in True Sight, after all – and since he's related to Dotty, then yes, he's related to Shawn as well. You're free to speculate all you want, but I won't let on any more than I've been giving out in dribs and drabs thru-out, since it'll make the other stories more fun if there's that lingering question. (fun for me, anyways)_

OOOOOOOO

River came awake slowly, and sat up. Rubbing his forehead slightly, he looked around to figure out what had woken him, but there wasn't anything amiss in the room. A dark form separated itself from the shadows near Shawn's bed and ambled over to him, and a moment later Jaffer was up on the bed, pretty much straddling him because there really wasn't all that much room for both of them on the bed.

River rested his hand on Jaffer's chest, mainly to keep the lab from licking his face, and felt the silky warmth of the big dog's hide under his palm.

"You didn't hear anyone... did you?" He asked in a whisper, looking around again. Maybe Brooks and Shawn were playing a trick on him? He didn't think so, though, because neither of them were all that good at pretending to be asleep – they'd all tried it at some point or the other in the last few weeks – and he was certain he'd have heard someone trying to muffle their snickering.

Jaffer whuffled him gently, easily pressing against River – even with the straight arm to prevent it and River stroked the lab's ears gently. Obviously nothing was wrong, because he was sure the dog would be giving some kind of warning – at least growling or something. Shawn had told River and Ian both just how well trained the dog was – and they'd seen evidence of it themselves the last day - so he was certain that if someone – or something? – was lurking around, there'd be a warning. The dog looked relaxed, though, so River relaxed as well.

"River?"

He heard Shawn whisper his name from the other side of the room, and there was no laughter in it.

"Yeah."

"You okay?"

"Yeah... just a weird dream..."

He couldn't really remember what it'd been about. Something about a... Jaffer whined softly and stuck his nose into Rivers armpit, making the young man flinch as the cold nose hit warm, tender skin, and whatever memory he'd been about to latch onto was suddenly snatched out of his grasp by the distraction.

"_Geeze_!"

"What?"

"Nothing..." River moved his armpit away from the cold nose, and pushed Jaffer's head away. The lab's eyes gleamed in the dim light coming from under the door. "Call Jaffer, will you? He's getting snot all over me..."

"Jaffer..."

The big lab jumped from the bed and moved back over to Shawn's bed, and River looked around the room once more, then lay back down. Whatever it had been – if it'd been anything – it wasn't there now. But it took him a long time to get back to sleep.

OOOOOOO

"Jack, if you don't go to sleep, I'm going to have Janet come over and put you to sleep with something in a big needle."

Jack sighed, and fluffed his pillow again – for about the hundredth time that night, Sam thought – and then rolled over and wrapped his arms around her once more, pulling her close.

"I'm sorry..."

He knew he was keeping her awake, but he just couldn't sleep.

Sam snuggled against him, resting her forehead against his bare chest, and sliding her hand along his strong arm.

"I know. Want me to make you some warm milk?"

"Ugh."

She smiled.

"What's bothering you? The fact that Jaffer isn't here, or worry because he wouldn't come home?"

"A little of both." Jack admitted, tilting his head and pressing a kiss against her hair. "I just don't understand what he was thinking."

Nothing new there, of course. That crazy dog was always doing stuff – but usually there was a reason, and this time Jack just couldn't figure out what it was. Add to that the fact that he wasn't used to falling asleep without that great big comforting weight at the foot of his bed or pressed up against him with his head on his leg, and Jack was just not able to get to sleep.

"They'd have called if something happened..." She told him, softly, her hand sliding along his side, now, trying to relax him a little. As close as she was to him, she could feel how tense he was. No wonder he couldn't sleep. "It might have been nothing more than Jaffer missing Shawn and wanting to spend extra time with him. You know how he is when he wants something."

Of course Jack knew. _He_ was the one that always let him have it, after all.

"Yeah..."

Her hand was sliding along his hip, now, and Jack was starting to tense for a completely different reason. He smiled, and hugged her even closer, pinning her hand to stop its progress.

"I thought you were tired?" He murmured into her ear, feeling her shiver at the contact.

"I thought you _weren't_?" She countered, moving her hand once more.

"Minx..."

She chuckled slyly in the dim room, and her hand moved once more, her touch and her gentle kisses driving away his anxieties and replacing them with other, far more interesting concerns.

Morning was soon enough to get his dog back, after all...


	12. Epilogue

_Epilogue _

Perversely, one of the first things Shawn usually did every morning was go for a jog. Not that he needed the exercise, and not because he particularly liked to run, but jogging was a good way to get the body stretched out and ready to start the day, and it was also a good time to be alone to think. River and Ian never jogged with him – in the morning – so he didn't have the distraction of their normal banter to break into his thoughts.

That morning, however, he didn't jog. For one thing, he wasn't sure if he was still confined to quarters – as unofficial as that order had been – and for another, he didn't want Jaffer to get wound up and tackle him again. It hadn't hurt, and he trusted the lab not to hurt him, but he didn't want to get all grass-stained again, even if it was just his sweats he was wearing.

When Jaffer woke him up – with a cold nose against his neck, and then licking his cheek and face until he was forced out of bed to get away from it – Shawn slipped into a pair of sweats and a T-shirt (both Academy labeled) and pulled on his sneakers and headed for the door, the big lab following close behind, more than ready to go out.

"You know... following you with a plastic bag in my hand is not my ideal way to start the morning," he complained sleepily.

Jaffer looked up at him, wagging his tail cheerfully, and trotted out into the parade grounds, taking a minute to have a morning run of his own.

A moment later, though, he'd changed direction completely, taking off like a shot across the grounds and towards the parking lot.

"Jaff-"Shawn had started to panic, thinking he was running off, and wishing he'd bothered to bring out the lab's leash, when he realized that the dog was running towards a lone figure who'd just gotten out of a big back truck. It was Jack.

Shawn trotted over as Jack knelt down to meet Jaffer's charge, wrapping his arms around the lab, who looked just as happy to see O'Neill as Jack looked to see him. Shawn wondered if Jaffer had somehow known Jack was coming, and had pulled him out of bed to go meet him.

"Morning, Jack."

Jack looked up at Shawn, smiling. It was a good morning when you could see your son and your dog.

"Hey, Shawn. Anything happen last night?"

"Nope. How about you?"

Oh yeah, but _nothing_ he was going to share with Shawn.

"Not a whole lot. Was he good?"

"Sure."

"Didn't keep you awake?"

"Nope."

"Slept with you?"

"Yup."

"Nothing happened? No weird... _anything_?"

Shawn shook his head. He knew Jack was trying to figure out Jaffer's odd behavior, but he didn't have an explanation for it, either.

"Nothing."

"Huh..."

"Want to see if he wants to go?"

"He'd better," Jack said, standing up. "I couldn't sleep at all last night without him."

Shawn smiled, because he knew it wasn't something Jack would have admitted to anyone. It made him feel good that he was willing to tell him something like that.

They walked over to the truck, and Jack opened the passenger door, looking down at Jaffer.

"Well?"

The black lab wagged his tail and jumped right in, landing neatly in his customary spot.

"Crazy dog..."

Jack nodded his agreement, and closed the door before Jaffer could change his mind. Leaning against the truck, he studied Shawn for a moment.

"How are you doing?" He wasn't above using coming to get Jaffer as a chance to have a stolen moment with the boy.

Shawn smiled.

"I'm great, Jack."

"You sure?" He looked great, that was certain, but Jack was going to make sure. "No problems with any of the instructors?"

Shawn shook his head.

"Nope."

"Any of the other students?"

"Nope."

"You're keeping up with the classes? It's not too hard?"

"I'm doing good, Jack," Shawn assured him, feeling warm and gooey inside at the constant questioning. This was how Jack showed he cared. Shawn knew if he said he was having a problem with something, Jack wouldn't eave until he was sure it was fixed, and if he was having trouble with one of the instructors, Jack would probably go track that person down and find out what was going on. Most likely with a threat thrown in somewhere. Was there any wonder Shawn loved him so much? "I'm exactly where I want to be, you know?"

Jack nodded. He knew.

"If you need anything, you call me, okay?"

"I will."

"If that Captain gives you any trouble about Jaffer, you let me know, and I'll set him straight."

Shawn grinned.

"I'll be okay."

"Yeah, I know."

Jaffer leaned out the window and whuffled O'Neill's cheek.

"He hasn't had breakfast," Shawn told him.

"I'll feed him when we get home..." Jack looked over at the lab, looking for some sign that something was wrong, but Jaffer looked more than ready to leave, even though he was watching Shawn cheerfully. "You sure everything's okay?"

Shawn nodded.

"He was probably just being difficult, Jack," Shawn said, reaching out and scratching Jaffer's ear. "Nothing weird happened last night. Everyone's fine."

Jack sighed, but he nodded. Whatever it was, it wasn't like the dog was going to just up and tell him, right?

"Okay, kiddo. I'd better get home and get ready for work." He pulled his keys out of his pocket and gave Shawn another look, and this one was just a little stern. "You need anything..."

"I'll call."

"Good."

"Tell Sam good morning for me, and tell her River suggested 'Justin'."

"Justin?"

"Just tell her, Jack. She'll understand."

Jack understood, too, then. He smiled.

"It's going to be a girl, you know? And Justine isn't too bad. I'll let her know."

He went around and got into the truck.

"Go get some clothes on before you catch a cold." He called as the engine roared to life.

"Okay, mom."

"Smart ass."

With a smile, Shawn turned and headed back to the dorm, even as Jack back the truck out of the parking spot and headed for home. Life was good. Crazy dogs, trouble causing roommates, and nagging Colonels and all. He couldn't imagine it being any other way.

The End.

_Author's Note: So! A Shawn, River and Ian story, with a lot of weird mysticism thrown in for good measure. This story was never intended to be long, but it was definitely necessary in the whole scheme of things. Besides, I like River and Ian, and I wanted to write some more about them and their relationship with Shawn and each other. Tell me what you liked and what you didn't like, if you would, and what you want to see next... still no birth of the baby, so don't request that – we're a ways off from that. (Lots to do before then, you'll see!)_


End file.
